The transcript of Hales’ speech, circulated to the church’s 50,000 worldwide members and subsequently leaked to the press, contains a direct reference to Hanson as the “red‑haired lady” and a call for the nation to “get enough uranium together and build a few bombs” to “obliterate Iran”.
The address follows earlier revelations that senior Brethren elders, including Hales’ son Gareth, funded neo‑Nazi operatives to tail and harass the prime minister and other MPs during the 2025 federal election, a scheme described by the masthead as a “dirty‑tricks” campaign targeting Coalition opponents.
Freedom for Faith, a Christian charity that defends religious liberty for a range of denominations, wrote to a parliamentary committee objecting to the summons of Bruce and Gareth Hales for questioning, arguing that the inquiry threatens the Brethren’s freedom of worship.
Church spokespeople have attempted to distance the organization from the incendiary remarks, describing Hales’ uranium comments as “a comment on the resources which God gave humans, not on war” and insisting that the sect “completely rejects antisemitism”.
Nevertheless, the leaked speech also includes antisemitic language, with Hales questioning a congregant’s Jewish heritage and urging members to “overcome … our Jewishness”, prompting condemnation from Labor and cross‑bench MPs who have called for the Coalition to denounce the Brethren’s ties to white‑supremacist actors.
One Nation’s Victorian leader Warren Pickering said he was unaware of any direct contact between the party and the Brethren, while national director James Ashby declined to comment, leaving the extent of any formal alliance unclear.
Senior Coalition figures, including Nationals leader Matt Canavan, have defended the sect, labeling the parliamentary inquiry a “witch‑hunt”. The debate continues as investigators examine the flow of money that allegedly paid far‑right intermediaries who coordinated the election‑influence operation.
The episode underscores the growing scrutiny of the Exclusive Brethren’s political clout, a multimillion‑dollar network that previously supported the Coalition and now appears to be shifting its backing toward One Nation amid internal realignments.